


supernova: synodia • mcu

by nicevibe



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Gen, Hydra (Marvel), OC, Original Character(s), SHIELD, Superheroes, herovibe, mcu - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 15:46:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14596329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicevibe/pseuds/nicevibe
Summary: Mariah Cade is a jack-of-all-trades, in more than ten different trades. World-renowned scientist and doctor of S.H.I.E.L.D., self-proclaimed master of mistakes, Cade has come to the forced conclusion that the abilities and elsewise gifts she has been gifted with were done so for a reason, and with threats appearing about as frequent as an acne-prone teenager, what better reason to use them other than to save the world?





	1. disclaimer

All rights to Stan Lee and Marvel Studios, the creators of the _Marvel_ series and franchise.

The original version of this story can be found on Wattpad:  
https://www.wattpad.com/story/127891559-supernova-synodia-%E2%98%85-mcu

All other terms and characters are rights of **herovibe**.


	2. character info

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains SPOILERS to the story.
> 
> If you wish to read blind, please disregard this chapter until the final chapter, or, the multiple story checkpoints.

**Marianna Elizabeth “Mariah” Cade** is a multi-degree holding doctor, scientist, and researcher. Born in Coventry in the United Kingdom, Cade used her knowledge regarding genetics and biochemistry in an attempt to create a cure for cancer after the disease took the life of two of her siblings, and instead caused the deaths of her family, and the accidental cellular mutation of her own body. In 1975, at the end of her journey for knowledge, Cade was approached by Peggy Carter, who convinced her to use her talents unselfishly and for S.H.I.E.L.D. With an impressive ten degrees, Cade has remained a close affiliate, working side-by-side top superpowers in the world of technology, medicine, and espionage as possibly the greatest doctor of her time.

Cade was a loyal follower of the American “war hero” Steve Rogers ( _at the time, he was merely a showman_ ) as a child, after meeting him in 1942 during one of his shows in New Jersey. After her father’s death, and Captain America’s disappearance over the Arctic, Cade experienced a mild personality switch and set herself on an isolated route to doctorates, desiring to be a modern-time hero.

 

**Real Name:** Marianna Elizabeth Cade

**Legal Name:** Mariah Cade

**Aliases:** Dr. Cade, Nova, Supernova

**Species:** Human

**Citizenship:** British, American

**Gender:** Female

**Age:** 77 ( _as of 2012_ ) ( _biologically 29_ )

**Date of Birth:** May 4th, 1935

**Clearance:** Level 8

**Titles:** Founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., S.H.I.E.L.D. Consultant, Doctor, Scientist, Biochemist, Engineer

**Affiliation:** S.H.I.E.L.D., Stark Industries, Avengers

**Status:** Alive

**Relatives:** Phillip Cade ( _father_ ), Millie Cade ( _mother_ ), Lucille Cade ( _sister_ ), Kelly Cade ( _sister_ ), Deborah Cade ( _sister_ ), Garrison Cade ( _brother_ ), Viktor Maximoff ( _brother-in-law_ ), unnamed niece and nephew.

**Occupation:** Doctor ( _oncologist_ ), geneticist, researcher ( _oncology, genetics_ ), engineer, biochemist, bioengineer, psychologist, nurse, lecturer

**Education:** Warwick Medical School, Coventry, UK (1952 - 1957) ( _Oncology, Molecular Biology + Genetics_ ), UCSF, San Francisco, CA (1959 - 1964) ( _Biochemistry, Biotechnology + Neuroscience_ ), Georgetown, Washington, D.C. (1968 - 1973) ( _Nursing + Psychology_ ), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (1982 - 1985)

**Degrees:** Ph.D's in Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Oncology, Genetics, Neuroscience, Molecular Biology, Psychology; B.S. in Biomedical Engineering + Engineering, Degree in Nursing.

**Portrayed by:** Zoey Deutch

 

**BIOGRAPHY**  
_EARLY LIFE_  
 **Childhood**

Marianna Elizabeth Cade was born on May 4th, 1935, to Phillip and Millie Cade in Coventry, West Midlands, England. Before Cade was born, her father Phillip had been a revered combat surgeon from the first World War, and would later be a great inspiration for her throughout her childhood. When Cade was less than three years old, her eldest sister Lucille was diagnosed with Leukemia at eleven, and passed away two months later. Her death would mark Cade’s decision to become a doctor like her father. At the age of seven, before the height of the war, Cade met Steve Rogers during one of his New Jersey USO tours, courtesy of Phillip, and confided in him how strongly she admires his passion and patriotism. 

In 1943, Cade and her family received word from the SSR that Phillip, who had been put back in duty, and his assigned unit became captured in battle, but also that Rogers has gone to liberate the survivors. Her father was not one of the survivors. The grievance money received paid off the family home, as well as Cade’s future tuition costs.

**Adolescence**

Cade graduated a year early from her high school in 1952 and enrolled herself in Warwick Medical School, spending five years there as a medical student, in the hopes of becoming an Oncologist and developing a cure for cancer on her late sister’s behalf. 

In 1959, Cade went to study abroad in the United States after receiving a UCSF scholarship for Oncology and Genetic Studies. In 1960, Cade became an American citizen and took up a permanent residency in California. Around this time, Cade enlisted as a nurse during the Vietnam War, her second school year cut short ending up in the Army Nurse Corps, in the ECU in Saigon, at the beginning of the United States’ involvement. Her tour lasted a year before Cade returned home, resuming her studies.

**The Incident**

Upon her eventual completion of her programs in 1968, Cade returned to her home in Coventry and discovered her brother Garrison was a victim of prostate cancer. Cade was extremely hurt that she hadn’t been told of it sooner, as he was diagnosed a year prior. Already close in achieving the desired results of her automatic micro-cellular repair serum, the “Nova-Cure”, which would negate targeted foreign bodies and mutated cells within the body, Garrison insisted on volunteering himself his sister’s first test subject. Despite her concerns, the serum proved a success—so much so that along with his cancer cells, it began to target other naturally-forming cells, reversing their processes to the point where he no longer existed. Those he came in contact with over the twenty-four hours between the initial treatment experienced the same results. Cade, who had previously tested on herself with an earlier serum – the one that would’ve healed the cells – rendered her immune to the effects, and instead enhanced them by 300%.

**The Supernova**

In 1969, one year after the incident and at thirty-four-years-old, Cade discovered her capabilities in mitosis manipulation ( _the ability to speed up, slow down, reverse, split, and multiply cells_ ), cellular activation ( _the increasing of one’s physical attributes through cell functions, such as speed and healing_ ), adaptive metabolism ( _immunity against any and all diseases produced within the body_ ), biological manipulation ( _influence over the growth and application of body parts_ ), and flesh transference ( _removal of a body part and regrowth_ ). Since that time, Cade has moved several times across the United States, using her newfound abilities in growing copies of herself to take as many programs in the science and health fields as physically possible. 

**Employment**

In 1975, at the end of her travels and studies, Peggy Carter, still employed under the SSR, approached Cade with the proposal of doing right by others, and using her knowledge and gifts to make the world a safer place. Cade refused to join, desiring to remain “a servant to the world”; however, she became a close affiliate with Agent Carter, the SSR, and fifteen years later, one of the co-founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. Leaving the “technical bits” to Carter and Howard Stark, Cade officially begun working as a S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Head of Medicine as well as the Head of Defense, before retiring and becoming an instructor for the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, and a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant, often sent to areas afflicted by certain phenomenon with a potential to cause civilian damage and/or casualties.

**Present Times**

In the early 1980’s, Cade developed a S.H.I.E.L.D. subdivision that placed safehouses throughout the world, allowing Agents to take refuge during missions.

In the late 1980’s, Cade is set as a target for information by The Winter Soldier. To avoid capture, she stays at one of the safehouses, located in Vancouver, Canada, until 1991, after hearing of Howard and Maria Stark’s deaths. Having worked closely with Howard for over a decade and being a close friend of the Stark’s, their deaths were a defining moment in Cade’s life, and encouraged her to go forward with a project abandoned due to its risk. In 1992, Cade completes the project, finalizing the “Nova-Cure”. 

For nearly twenty years, Cade has worked as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s lead medical, as well as an engineering consultant.

 

**PERSONALITY**

An exceedingly kind and intelligent individual, with her selflessness bred into her, Cade often finds it difficult to deny a request for help. She can be mildly impetuous, as well as hypocritical and indecisive, and generally requires a form of guidance to keep her head on straight. She has developed an unusually high tolerance for pain at the cost of using her ability to generate and regenerate body parts, and does so without much regard to her own well-being when a friend, ally, or civilian is in need of assistance.

Despite her initial and apparent frailty, it is not well-known that Cade’s powers lie outside that of healing and regeneration, but also, her expansive talent in martial arts, acquired over the long years. Her mental strength and capacity are additionally impressive. Cade’s many years having been lived on earth gave her ample opportunity to expand her knowledge and experience, having several degrees and certifications along the health and sciences spectrum of education. Cade went through over thirty years of schooling in order to be up close with multiple different cases, to be able to use her skill and abilities to help others. Regardless of a situation’s severity, if asked, Cade is quick to offer her hand. To an extent, Cade’s drive for knowledge had become obsessive, her research; dangerous, and it took her many years to come to this realization on her own. 

Cade was fully aware that the further she travelled on her journey for knowledge, the larger of a target she would become for the enemy, and an even greater security risk for S.H.I.E.L.D. After being sought after by a Russian HYDRA subunit, she decided to take matters into her own hands, and complete the once-forgotten serum that had granted her abilities in the first place. While this furthered her value on both playing fields, it had been developed for her use only, knowingly having built a failsafe into the serum. 

Cade has a habit of thinking ahead of situations, doing what she can to prepare herself for any oncoming danger or risks, and an even greater habit of using forms of humour (sarcasm, puns, irony, and self-depreciation) to mask her concerns, fears, and general anxieties. Cade often reflects on her past mistakes, which only augments her naturally-obsessive, perfectionist nature. 

Cade is a valued alumnus of the S.H.I.EL.D. Academy of Science and Technology, and annually returns to give lectures and speeches to its current students. 

It is said that Cade has never been drunk in her entire life; she was never interested in alcohol or drugs prior to the experiment, thereby wasting her only opportunity to experience the sensation. A folly, it is Cade’s goal to either discover or create an alcoholic drink that will be able to escape her body’s filtration system.

 

**POWERS AND ABILITIES**

_"This all seems rather surreal."  
"And being a human anomaly doesn't?"_

\- **Mariah Cade** and **Tony Stark**

**Powers**

As a result of her failed experiment in 1968, Cade has experienced several bodily phenomena. 

• **Mitokinesis:** Despite being in her eighties, Cade’s control over her body’s mitosis allows her to readily age or de-age herself. However, since the first time this was attempted, she was unable to replicate the technique, therefore leaving her mitosis incomplete and with the appearance of a woman in her late twenties. 

• **Cellular Activation:** Cade uses this ability to increase her physical attributes, and is activated upon specific cell friction generation.   
o _Enhanced Stamina and Endurance:_ Cade’s natural stamina reserves are naturally low from a lack of utilization, so by creating friction between her adipocyte (“fat cells”), she is able to increase her stamina reserves nearly tenfold. Of course, this requires Cade to have a high-calorie and high-carb diet, consuming roughly 4,000 – 5,000 calories a day.   
 Her body’s chemistry allows her to filter out all bad oils, and ingredients as she pleases, so she is unable to gain any health-related conditions—although, she tends to get over-bloated. To combat this, Cade must undergo weekly gastric suction. 

o _Enhanced Speed, Reflexes, and Agility:_ Cade’s natural speed, from lack of exercise, is enhanced through creating friction between her eukaryote (“energy cells”). The highest speed that Cade has before reached is 160 kilometers per hour. Her reflexes and agility are on par with Olympic gold medalists, leaping over large objects, climbing and jumping at great lengths, balancing on thin platforms, as well as the expert use of her upper body strength. Cade has joked that if her identity wasn’t public, she could easily make a living as an Olympian or a professional athlete—if she were good at sports, that is. 

o _Enhanced Strength:_ Cade, a martial arts master and expert kickboxer, will create friction between her osteoblasts (“bone-germination”) and osteocytes (“bone-maintenance”), as well as increase the amount of desmosomes (“binding body”) and erythrocytes (“red blood cells”) on the skin and muscles, respectively, to either add extreme force behind attacks, or lift or throw extremely heavy objects. She can also forgo osteo-impression to instead retain extra erythro-impression and desmos-impression and defend her physical body from harm. 

• **Adaptive Metabolism:** Due to her body’s natural filtration system, Cade is immune to any and all diseases, toxins, infections, and conditions. Additionally, she is unable to host any such virus, or take in the effects of toxins, drugs, or even alcohol, as they are all foreign objects that come from an external source. Cade’s accelerated metabolism allows her to heal wounds and broken bones quickly.

• **Biokinesis:** Cade can physically distort and genetically alter her appearance and body parts, duplicating her own body (although this process takes over a day to complete, and the euthanasia process is incredibly disturbing), as well as the ability of regrowth.   
o _Flesh Transference:_ Through Biokinesis, Cade can grow limbs and regrow organs, detach or remove them, and manipulate her cells to match those of another, resulting in an organic prosthesis.   
 She can also duplicate herself, creating multiple forms over a lapse of a day; she can rejoin with these forms, as well, gaining their muscle memory, and sight and thought memory. 

o _External Transfiguration:_ Through Biokinesis, Cade is able to contort her features. 

 

**Abilities**

• **Master Tactician:** Cade is an accomplished strategist. Having grown up amidst World War II, even from an early age, she was extremely in-tune with historical war tactics and strategies, reading from her father’s – a former soldier, himself – former texts. 

• **Master Physicalist:** Throughout the years, Cade has used her immortality to train with multiple martial arts. She is skilled in kickboxing, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, and is even capable in kendo and fencing. 

• **Weapons Proficiency:** Cade does not typically use weapons during combat, but has training in Japanese kendo, as well as fencing, and can utilize her training in these arts with other extendable weapons, such as staffs, rebar, sticks, and pole-like extensions. 

• **Multilingual:** Cade is fluent in English, German, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and French. 

**Weakness:** Vertigo; and a general fear of heights. Sometimes requires in-flight sedation.

**Abilities Summary**

• Semi-immortality  
• Physical attribute enhancement  
• Automatic bodily filtration system  
• Illness immunity  
• Instant regeneration   
• Physical distortion + duplication  
• Martial artist

 

**EQUIPMENT**

**Weapons**

• **Glock 29:** Prior to Cade completing her Nova-Cure serum, she would carry two G29 handguns in holsters strapped to her calves.

• **Star-staff:** Cade also carried an extendable metal rod, often found up one of her sleeves. 

**Uniform**

• **S.H.I.E.L.D. Uniform:** Cade’s first uniform, worn back in 1992 to 1993 when she rejoined S.H.I.E.L.D. after Howard Stark’s death, as its affiliate. A plain black catsuit with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo over the left breast. 

• **Dr. Cade:** Cade wears a black pair of scrubs underneath her white lab coat.

• **Nova Uniform:** Cade’s second uniform wasn’t worn until around 2002; a solid white, carbon polymer catsuit, offering minimal resistance to gunfire. The suit, itself, reaches from Cade’s neck to her feet, but has the option of a hood with black, knitted eyeholes, as there is a zipper that attaches both pieces to each other. This is usually worn underneath Cade’s lab coat, now black instead of white. She also wears a pair of black, knee-high leather boots.

• **Supernova Uniform:** Designed by S.H.I.E.L.D., Cade’s newest uniform remains a solid white catsuit, but the carbon polymer is an advanced grade version, and more expansive, allowing better movement. It retains the face-covering hood and full-body zipper, as well as the leather boots. An addition to her suit is the utility belt hidden underneath the thick white sash tied around her waist to protect its contents—several serum vials, used for either emergency, or emergency combat, and medical supplies. She also opts for an off-white cape.

**Other Equipment**

**GPS:** Cade always carries a GPS tracker.

 

**TRIVIA**

• Due to Cade’s cellular mutations, her body’s natural filtration system prevents any foreign item meant to do harm from remaining within her body. Therefore, to her disappointment, Cade can never get drunk.   
o Cade was never interested in drinking or doing any sort of drug prior to the results of her experiment, thereby missing her chance of ever feeling the effects of alcohol.   
o It is a side project, ultimately, but Cade swears by one day discovering a way to “feel drunk”.   
o Despite all this, she will “never turn down a cold beer.”

• Cade’s father Phillip was one of the men captured by HYDRA during World War II, as he had been a combat surgeon (formerly a World War I infantryman during his youth).  
o This is one of the reasons Cade had revered Captain America so strongly during her own youth, as she had avenged her father’s death by killing Red Skull. Prior to that, it was for his patriotism. 

• Cade was a nurse during the Vietnam War, serving for one year in the ECU in Saigon. 

• Growing up in Coventry, Cade had been a seamstress and florist before leaving for medical school.

• Cade’s birthday is May 4th, 1935, putting her at 77-years-old as of 2012. Biologically, she is 29. 

• According to her S.H.I.E.L.D. file, Cade can speak English, German, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and French. And a little Vietnamese. 

Mariah Cade is portrayed by Zoey Deutch. Her younger self is portrayed by Mackenzie Foy.


	3. supernova soundtrack

Supergrass – Alright  
Twenty-One Pilots – Fairly Local  
Lenny Kravitz – Always on the Run  
Steppenwolf – Born to Be Wild  
Dimie Cat – Glam  
Cream – White Room  
ACDC – Live Wire  
Kenny Loggins – Danger Zone  
Spose – I’m Awesome  
CkY – 96 Quite Bitter Beings  
Rise Against the Machine – Wake Up  
Jim Sturgess – Revolution  
Elastica – Connection  
Fall Out Boy – This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race  
Bjork – Army of Me  
OutKast – Bombs Over Baghdad

 

**Spotify Link**

https://open.spotify.com/user/jaidenallen/playlist/7liq46XRiUmLQzMayvxOM0?si=sSmi4jOzSvmgcyL7ayrmyw


	4. A Woman Out of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER ONE

I’d _like_ to start my first sentence off with the words “ _from what I remember_ ”, but then that would be a lie. And I don’t lie. My eidetic memory has me remember everything. It never matters how many years have passed, because when the 1970’s rolled around, I’d been middle-aged, nearing my prime ripeness, with the spongy memory of a twenty-year-old girl, all thanks to my error in judgement. It’s not necessarily one of the worst things to have happened, but things would be a lot less emotional if it _didn’t_ happen.

I’m still on the couch, too exhausted to even crawl to my room the night prior, let alone walk to it. I’m so used to enhancing myself during training, but now that I’m on a strict S.H.I.E.L.D. regimen, I’ve been forbidden to. At this point in time, my physical body is about as resilient as a four-year-old. If I want experience as an Agent, that has to change. I know I should be embarrassed. Laying here, I must admit—I’m really not. 

I know I’m dreaming. I can feel it; the flickering of my eyelids from this restless sleep, the slowed beating of my heart, my steady breathing. I can usually wake myself up from my dreams, but as I’d mentioned, exhaustion has settled, and I’m down for the count. This dream of mine, however, is unalike any dream I’ve had in the seventy-seven years of life I’ve lived. 

I’ve travelled many years into the past, back to Coventry, back to my family home, and by the looks of things, back to 1945, where I sit in between two of my remaining three siblings, taking up most of the area rug. Our mother, her pale face sallow and body thin, is perched on the leftmost sofa cushion, her bony fingers intertwined with each other. On the table before us, is our new radio. This is how I know it’s at _least_ 1945\. The same year we’d purchased this new radio is the same year Captain America helped put an end to the second world war. Eyeing it closely, I notice that there isn’t a dent on the back corner yet. There will be, very soon. 

“... _is a solemn, but glorious hour. I wish that Franklin D. Roosevelt was here to see this day. General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations._ ” A sharp intake of breath from my mother implies to my ten-year-old self that this is good news, and while I’d been the closest to the radio, I hadn’t fully been listening. Back then, I recall having but a single reason why I was even sitting there in our living room that September afternoon. “ _The flags of freedom fly all over Europe._

_“For this victory, we join in offering our thanks to the providence, which has guided and sustained us through the dark days of adversity, and into light. Much remains to be done. The victory won in the west must now be won in the east. The whole world must be cleansed of evil, from which half the world has been freed._

_“United, the peace-loving nations have demonstrated in the west that their arms are stronger by far than the might of dictators or the tyranny of military cliques that once called us soft and weak. The power of our people to defend ourselves against all enemies will be proved in the Pacific War, as it was proved in Europe._ "

And then, it comes. The shuffling of Truman’s script alerts me – the dreaming-me – of this.

“ _Following this broadcast, I ask of you to provide a moment of silence, for the brave men and women who laid down their lives up until this day, as well as America’s own star-spangled man, who made it possible for us to celebrate this freedom._ ”

There is zero silence in the Cade household at that time. For my mother, it is utter mayhem. My fault, of course. I never was good at keeping myself together—not then, not now. I was an English girl, exceedingly so, my roots so deep underground that it dates back to its founding. So why did I have such an obsessive fascination on the American hero that was Captain America? Maybe I’d just found the idea on complete and utter patriotism for one’s country compelling. Hell, I still do, hence my long-term career choice. 

I’d met him in 1942. My father, an accomplished doctor, took me to New Jersey for my seventh birthday. Captain America was an international icon, and served as a beacon of hope for people all over the world, myself, included. Large shows were put on all over the country to invoke hope in whoever came to see them. That was my birthday gift—the chance to meet him. I don’t think I understood what this meant for my father until I’d been placed on a plane back to Coventry, alone. He wasn’t a normal doctor. He’d served during the first world war as a soldier. Because he’d survived, he served once more. And he didn’t return home. The moment of silence that day, on the second of September in 1945, was for both my father, and Captain America. 

★★★

 

I’m flushed out of my dream in an instant; I wake up panting, sweating on the couch, tangled up in the thin sheet previously draped over the cushions. I take a deep breath, a weak effort to calm myself down. _Why_ I’m so worked up, I can’t figure. More often than not, my dreams tend to be a premonition to reality. So maybe this is just another one of those. I can only hope it is a good premonition. With my luck, it’s unlikely, but fingers crossed.

Speaking of fingers, I use mine to undo the long, dark, and still-damp braids out of their elastics, sliding them down my wrist on my way into the kitchen for breakfast. My day has already been planned accordingly, according the text I’d received at five in the morning (on the dot, I might add), as the inconvenience of my job requires me to be either on-call or to come in at the most ludicrous of hours. I swear, it’s like clockwork with these people. 

I’d decided to pre-make a majority of my meals on one of my handful of allotted days off. Today I’m having frozen flaxseed pancakes. Where I work, when they say “full-time”, they mean full-time. According to my boss, because of my rank, I can pull rank, which means squat considering it’s nearly the end of February and I’ve only had two weekends off since the year began. The only thing I’m pulling is my dead weight up the front steps. 

By the time my breakfast is done toasting, I’ve already washed my face. No time for makeup. I run back into the kitchen, snag them out of the toaster, and grab the bottle of syrup. With each bite, I take a sip from the bottle. No time for a plate, either.

If someone were to ever ask me if, standing half-naked in the middle of my kitchen, eating frozen waffles and drinking table syrup, waking up before the sun even considers rising, and living in a tiny flat in Alexandria, Virginia, is where I’d see myself, I’d honestly have to say yes. I’m cheap. So cheap, I don’t even have a car. So cheap, I don’t even bother take a taxi into work. All I do in my apartment is eat and sleep, and barely even that, so why pay ridiculously to live luxuriously if you’re not even living?

I wash my hands, dress in uniform, pulling my raincoat on last, and grabbing my pre-packed bag from the shelf at the door. 

 

★★★

 

My name is Mariah. Mariah Cade. I’m a doctor. And a scientist. And a teacher. I work for the Strategic Homeland Intervention E… En… I’m a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D. In short, we’re homeland security for the entire world. I’m a part of the science division, so that should explain why I never get any sleep.

“Why don’t I get any bloody sleep?” I don’t mean to yell, but the frustration from having only gotten two hours of it overwhelms me. At the other end of the phone, I hear Director Fury sigh. “Sir. You know I have no issue being at your beck and call whenever there’s something “science-y” that needs to be dealt with. But you know what really needs to be dealt with? You and your Level Ten clearance nonsense treating me like a slave! I might not be a normal one, but I am still human.”

“ _Are you really going to tell me, with your Level Eight clearance, that you’ve got some complaints over an unencrypted line?_ ” he says. I have no choice but to shut my mouth. “ _Get your whiny ass to my office, Cade. Now._ ”

In an angry huff, I throw my phone back into my bag and re-zip it. 

“The things I put up with for the man,” I’m grumbling on my way out the door. The rain hits me fast and hard, sending an instant chill through my whole body. It quickly dissipates from my quick strides. Quick-quick; quicker and quicker. The friction becomes hotter, spreading outward from my chest and into my legs. I clutch my purse tighter at my side, under my right arm and in my left hand, as the dark of the buildings, shops, and parked street cars become an even darker blur. I hold my breath, my legs becoming too fast to mark with my weak morning vision. 

The Triskelion lies at the very end of the Potomac River, a many-storied, Archimedean spiral buildings surrounded by water on both sides, natural and man-made. From my apartment, it would take twenty-two minutes to cab (we all know they take their time and the most inconvenient route on purpose), thirteen minutes to drive, and forty-three minutes by street car. Running, the way I do it… I’ll be there in a minute. 

It’s not superhuman speed, or magical running shoes, or anything ridiculous like that. It’s simply a mutated gene. Maybe not so simply, actually. But I’ve spent the past forty-two years of my life vehicle-less for this reason—the convenience of not having to wait at the light to drive, or fill up a tank, or pay for repairs or for insurance. There’s no need.  
The Triskelion has already come into view, nearly two miles away, still. Not for long, of course, but it will be refreshing to get out of this rain and dry off. 

 

★★★

 

I mean to stop before getting to the front door, but for a loss of concentration, I end up sliding straight into the staircase leading up to it. Everything somewhat happens at once, what with my legs getting folded beneath me, my upper body being propelled forward and the rest of me following afterward, and landing against the risers. A loud groan leaves my chest before I can stop myself.

Laying here, mentally directing my body through the process of repairing my broken tibia, I can’t begin to express my relief that no one else is around to see my epic failure.  
Healing bones takes a lot longer than if I were to heal a cut or a wound. Metaphorically speaking, you have to dig deep to reach the osteoblasts that make up a bone. 

With time to spare, I feel my tibia shift back into place. I take another deep, wavering breath as the pain subsides, and get up off the steps. My body aches—nothing I can do about that.

I've always thought the Triskelion to be one of the more unique of the S.H.I.E.L.D. bases, what with its many curves and lack of most edges, it was refreshing. A little Feng Shui never killed anyone. It might've taken an eye or two out, here and there...

"Director's Level," I say to the lift. 

"Confirmed," it responds. It starts humming, and quickly ascends higher and higher into the building.

Director Fury's office is on the top floor of the third tower, with his second hand's not too distant. I see her, Agent Hill, once the lift's doors open, so focused on flipping through a thick folder that she barely notices the elevator's arrival.

"You, too, huh," I say, and she looks up, eyes finally alert.

"Cade," she says. To my chagrin, I take note of the mischief dancing behind her eyes; she's thought of something witty to say. "Well, considering I'm a Level higher than you, I assume you can understand that means my job requires me to be an early bird."

I sigh deeply, and we switch places. "I suppose this makes me the worm," I grumble. "Take care, Hill."

I stalk away, this newfound realization no more frustrating than it had been when I'd spoken to the Director over the phone. One bloody level lower and you're suddenly on a whole other spectrum-- what a load of waffle.

Out of pure spite, I don't bother to knock to announce my arrival. Instead, I go ahead and show my tag under the scanner, wait for the doors to open, and enter. Director Fury is just shoving something away into his pocket as I do.

"It's not even eight in the morning and you've already managed to get on my nerves, Cade," he says, his one eye trained on me.

"New records are always so hard to break," I rebut, and glance to the large, minimalistic clock behind him and his desk. "Five-seventeen? Brilliant."

"You know," Fury starts, leaning into his desk with his palms on the glass, "for someone with as many degrees as you, you'd think you'd be less of a dumbass than most other agents."

"Keeps things interesting, doesn't it?" I say. I slink toward the chairs opposite him, and get comfortable. "But... on the topic of agents, which I am currently not, I wanted to discuss a possible career switch."

"A career switch," he repeats slowly.

"Yes, seeing as I've completed all necessary academy training, and given my knowledge, I propose that you let me out into the field as a real one. Not just an affiliate."

Fury snorts. "You... You wanna be a field agent?"

"Y-Yes," I stammer, unnerved by his reaction. I feel like I simple "no" might be less insulting.

"No way."

Never mind. It feels no different.

"But I've worked as a S.H.I.E.L.D. affiliate since Peggy founded it," I argue. "If she was still director, she'd be just fine with it."

"Well, she's not. Besides, I have something else… a little more personal in mind for you."  
"Personal?" I repeat. Fury, pulling his hands from the pockets of his coat, struts back over to his desk and snatches a small remote off of it. 

“If you would direct your attention to the screen,” he says, pressing a button on it. I swivel in the leather seat beneath me to do so. My lips instantly part, the translucent screen flashing national colours before me. “A week ago, S.H.I.E.L.D. received word of a World War II Hydra bomber found on Arctic shores, its body still intact, but that wasn’t the only body found intact.” 

I hear a second click of Fury’s remote, and the screen is updated. Soundless body-camera footage plays on it now, showing the results of their find, the frozen insides of a Hydra airship. Despite its age, it’s held together this long quite well. 

“Sixty-seven years ago, this aircraft went down, and went down hard. You were probably ten at the time.”

“And you were probably only a forethought,” I counter. “What do you mean by personal, director? How is any of this personal?”

One more click, and one by one, the images fill up the screen: a picture of a red, blue, and white shield, centered by a star; a mound of snow at the head of the warship; beneath it, a man, frozen solid.

“… is that,” I breathe.

“It sure is.” Fury collapses in his chair. “You wanted field experience so bad, wanted to be like an Agent, then he’s your assignment.”

“My assignment?” I repeat. 

“You’re too invaluable to be put in action, Cade,” he tells me, and I instantly deflate. “That’s why Carter never did make you an Agent. So, she forced into compromising; made you a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant, instead. And now, I’m doing the same.

“Steve Rogers is a man out of time, Cade. He’s been at the bottom for three-quarters of a century, and as you can imagine, he’ll have a hell of a time adjusting. The guys down in the lab are currently working to unthaw him, but they’re probably nearly finished. From now on, you’re his handler. Anything he needs, it’s your job to help him. Any questions he has, provided they’re the appropriate kind, you answer them.”

“So, I’m basically a P.S.W.,” I quip, and Fury chuckles. 

“You’ve met your match, Cade,” he says, amusement lingering in his tone. “Someone as old as you are can appreciate that, I’m sure.”

“You’re one to talk, Director,” I retort, rising off the couch to claim the single file he’s place at the edge of his desk for me. “How old are you now? Fifty? Sixty? Time sure flies.”

“Get outta my office before I change my mind.”

“Yessir.”

 

★★★

 

Once in the solitude of the glass elevator, I don’t bother to contain my excitement when I sing, “Biolab,” to the speaker, and lean up against the wall of it.

“Confirmed,” the voice responds. With a soft whir, the elevator begins its descent to the twentieth floor.

The only thing that puts a damper on my good mood at such an early hour is the fact that a bunch of unknowns have been working in my lab for the past three days without my say-so. Fury obviously overrode my access code – the only person allowed in this floor and section of the building is me, and the only two people above me in status, the Director, and Agent Hill – and for whatever reason he didn’t call me right away, well, it must’ve been serious. 

I approach the main entrance, a thick metal door, safeguarded by both voice and retinal recognition software. This is different, I think. I’d been so used to my nine-digit code, it becomes an instant frustration when I have to bend my knees to get to eye-level. I force my eyes open when I’m greeted with a blinding blue scan-light. 

“Please confirm voice recognition record,” the same voice from the elevators say.

“Cade, Doctor Mariah Elizabeth,” I respond. 

“Welcome, Doctor Cade.” A loud and vibrating hum sounds, and slowly, the doors slide open, revealing a long hall; at the end of it, my lab, my inner sanctum. 

Out of all the floors in the building, this is one of the few that has the most security. As of today, that is. There are no windows; the walls, ceiling, and floor are made of five-foot wide titanium alloy. I’ve created a lot of dangerous things in the past, things that are stored here, or in The Fridge; biological weapons, machinery, serums. Things that could bring the world to its knees if they were in the wrong hands. If anyone else found our American super-soldier, it would probably result in the same thing. 

I begin making my way to my lab, where the loudest source of noise seems to be coming from. Why it is sets my teeth on edge. It’s like going to the restroom and someone walking in on you. It’s private. It’s intrusive. It’s – it’s—

“It’s Captain America,” I breathe, eyes wide at the pale man lying half-naked on my table. My lab techs (from the floor below, naturally), all turn to me, eyes equally as wide. 

“Doctor Cade,” Nicholas Unger, my head technician says, his expression unflinching. If there’s anything I appreciate, it’s conviction in a lab. No time or room for error. 

“I take three days off and come back to a naked man in my office,” I murmur. “Can’t say it’s a first. How is he, Unger?”

“We had to partially thaw him on-site; there was so much ice on him it was almost impossible to get him in the front door. When we got him back to base, we set him in a souse for the past fourty-eight hours with a L-VAD and a ventilator, checking his vitals every hour on the hour.”

“And how are they? Where’s his chart?” A clipboard is handed across the table to Unger, who then hands it to me. “Decent,” I note. “Pulse is expectedly low—for the time being, let’s keep it that way. Respiration is iffy; consider putting him in a hyperbaric chamber if it doesn’t improve within the next hour, and change the vital check times to every half hour. I don’t want to miss anything.”

“Yes, ma’am. As for sedation, we’ve been concerned that dissociation might be too much at this point.”

“If there’s concern, address it,” I say. Unger makes a gesture; one of the techs react to it and rolls the lower clamp tighter along the tubing. “Speaking of, who opened the lab?”

“Agent Hill, ma’am, on the Director’s order,” he answers. “We had him downstairs before we were told to move him to your lab.”

“Right, well, have him moved to Lab Three; it’s the only one unoccupied at the moment, and it’s a bit of a distraction knowing that you didn’t put a sheet down on my table before letting his bon-bons loose on it. Move him. Sanitize the room. I’ll be in my office for the next little while; if anything changes in his status, that’s the only reason I’ll accept being disturbed.”

“Right.” 

Unger is still barking back my instructions to him to the other techs by the time I’ve entered my office and shut the door behind me. My raincoat is still damp, and I have to peel it off me from the moisture built up between it and my bare arms. I’ve made sure to keep Rogers’ file away from it. Hanging it up, I immediately cross over to my scanner, and fit his information through. Within seconds, I receive confirmation from my watch that it’s ready for viewing; in the meanwhile, I’ve turned on my Holotable.

“Expand.”

The table lights up, the file laid out before me. What I immediately notice is that a majority of his information is dated from when Rogers was a part of the SSR, long before it became S.H.I.E.L.D. His height and weight likely wouldn’t have changed, what with his super-soldier serum being self-sustaining. 

My heart is racing. The man I’d idolized as a child (even now, maybe), what’s known of him is on this table. Of course, a majority of it I’d already been aware of, like his birthday; the obvious being his hair and eye colour. But there are things like his parents’ names, where he’d gone to school, where he’d lived. He’s from Brooklyn. He’d been an art major. His parents, Joseph and Sarah, died long, long ago. 

I move to his medical files, pre-serum, and post. 

“Astigmatism, scoliosis, arrhythmia, heart palpitations, hypertension, angina, stomach ulcers, anaemia, asthma, partial deafness, anxiety, chronic fatigue, sinusitis—good lord, no wonder Erskine chose him. He’s a perfect candidate.”

More like a walking health risk, I muse to myself. 

“Post-serum: loss of disabilities, extended skeletal structure, increase in muscle and total mass, increased mental and physical capabilities. Superhuman strength, durability, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, senses, and perception; accelerated healing, and halted mitosis. Sounds familiar.” 

The file ends there. I save it to my personal files, and turn off the Holotable. 

 

Brilliant. And now, we wait.


End file.
